Abu Dhabi: The short film industry has already emerged as a force to reckon with and is etching its presence among the masses for a while now.
With the expat population aplenty in the UAE, the Kochi Metro Short Film Fest is all set to launch its UAE chapter on September 23.
Initiated under the chairmanship of renowned Malayalam actor Mohanlal, the fest will provide a platform to aspiring short film makers to showcase their creativity in the UAE.
The festival will not only screen films but also host interactive sessions on the nuances of film making, expert opinions and panel discussions.
With a strong 250 members from the industry, the group will cater to the queries of people within the fraternity and budding talents.
Festival director Raveendran, who is one of the renowned actors of South Indian movies, revealed that the event titled ‘Kochi Metro Short Films UAE’ will get under way at the Emirates English School in Dubai with the screening of Mohanlal starrier Reflections.
“Apart from the screening of the films all through the day, we will also be meeting all the members on September 23 and discussing a whole lot of things to see how we can take it forward,” said Raveendran, who is keen to take this mobile film movement to Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait.
“It is an attempt to bring an intermediate platform for art, technology and management. For that we took this step of creating Kochi Metro Film Festival. We focus on conducting film festivals as films incorporate technology, management, trends, etc and for promoting visual literacy. There will be a lot of workshops that we are planning to conduct here in the UAE,” added Raveendran.
A UAE-based WhatsApp group is already active and has been sharing short films and concepts for movie making, besides discussions on psychological, economical and social issues of the diaspora through the medium of cinema.
“Those who are not our members also can follow our activity through our Facebook page and interact with us. We will also be having a short film competition here and anybody can enter. So, basically, it provides a whole lot of opportunities for people who are aiming to get associated with the film industry or trying to make a career out of it,” added Raveendran, who is associated with the Monsoon Cine Fest literacy movement since 2005.
Similar launches are also planned in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Sharjah, the dates of which will be decided on September 23.
